Knowing more on CALL

Thee are lots of seminars and confererences organized every year to discuss and be updated about varied CALL topics. Here you are the list of the ones broadcasted via Internet this week:

Even if you are unable to make it the Foreign Language Instructional
Technology conference, you will still be able to catch the plenary talks via
Internet broadcast. Here's the schedule local time (GT +2):

Friday, December 3, 19:00-20:00
Mike Levy "Revising the teachers' role in CALL: Designing materials for the
independent language learner"

Saturday, December 4, 09:30-10:30
Françoise Blin "Bologna and the 21st century language learner: Integrating
technology for learner autonomy"

Saturday, December 4, 14:30-15:30
François Mangenot " Former les futures enseignants aux TICE à travers les
échanges en ligne"

Sunday, December 5, 09:30-10:30
Phi Hubbard "Exploring the impact of technology implementation on theories
and models of language learning"

Sunday, December 5, 12:00-13:00
Sophie Ioannou-Georgiou "Language learning, learner autonomy and the
ever-evolving world of technology"

To access these broadcasts, connect to the FLiT website:
http://lcweb.ucy.ac.cy/Flit/index.htm

All of the presenter are very well-known colleages and even you could see the author of our text book. So, you know, it could be good to listen to his voice ;) 

Linking our subject to the present-future

First of all, I would like to receive you with a very kind welcome to this course. As many of you have already realized and commented in the forum, the contents of our main handbook seems to be rather "old-fashioned". What I will try to do with this blog is letting you related all the things read there with new applications of CALL to learn EFL. I know that some of you are studying and working in the areas completly different from methodology and ICT, but, gradually, and thanks to this blog you will understand better your handbook. You will also learn to find worthwhile everything written there, since it has been written by one of the pioneers teachers in the field of CALL, Mike Levy.

I would like to introduce in this first entry of this academic year a seminar, hold by MacMillan Education and delivered in this case, by Pete Sharma:

These kind of seminars are called webinars, since they are delivered in the web. You can either downloading them in your computer or ipod using itunes, or attend live depending on your time zone.

In order to know about the use of ipods in EFL, visit this entry elaborated by student from NT last year. Please, use the comments option to express your opion about this topic.

CALL courses

Maybe this information could be suitable for you:

Dear colleague,

The European Commission offers grants for courses listed in their Comenius/Grundtvig course database, covering course fee, travel & subsistence. With the application deadline of 15 January approaching rapidly, we would like to draw your attention to some courses the non-profit organization Let's Learn IT has to offer.

Course overview

1. Moodle at School: Installing & Deploying a Course Management System for Language Teachers (BE-2010-128-003)
   
   This one week course, which takes place in Athens, Greece, from 11 - 18 July 2010, will give you everything you need to know in order to not only install but also configure and manage your own Moodle Course Management System. Additionally, you will also learn how to effectively implement all of its features in your daily teaching practice.
   
   
2. Tools for teachers: New Media & Web 2.0 Applications (BE-2010-130-003)
   This one week course, which takes place in Ghent, Belgium, from 25 July – 1 August 2010, will give you an overview of many New Media applications (such as Blogs, Wikis, social networks, etc), and will show you how you can effectively implement all of their features in your daily teaching practice. Having completed this course, you will be able to create improved learning materials that will appeal to young & IT-savvy students.
   
   
3. Training for the Future - Improving Education with Blogs & Wikis (BE-2010-131-003)
   This course takes place in Ghent, Belgium, from 22 – 29 August 2010, and will focus on blogs and wikis, which (whether combined with audio, photo or video environments or not) allow students to put peer teaching and reviewing into practice in a relatively simple way. Some blogs and wikis can be set up for free in a matter of minutes, allowing you to focus on content rather than technicalities. Of course the focus does not have to be on writing activities or writing skills - listening and speaking skills can be practiced, too.
   
   

If you think these courses might interest any of your colleagues, then please do not hesitate to forward it to them. For more specific information, please contact us via info@letslearnit.org or check the Let's Learn IT website.

Preregistration & information

People who are interested should preregister for our courses as soon as possible via our Preregistration Form. Full details regarding the courses are also available via the Let's Learn IT website.

Application Deadline

The application deadline for Comenius - Grundtvig courses comes very early this year (15 January 2010) . It is therefore very important that you submit your application for funding before 14 January 2010. For country-specific deadlines, please inquire with your own National Agency.



With kind regards,
Bart Bonamie

Autonomous Learning and CALL

One of the most relevant kinds of learning related to CALL is perhaps Autonomous learning. Thanks to the evolution and improvement of technology, autonomous learning is acquiring more and more quality. The IATEFL- SIG devoted to Autonomous leaning, LASIG has recentry organised, in collaboration with the Open University, a single day seminar on this topic. Most of talks and other papers presented there involved CALL in their content.

The blond woman standing on the scenario is called Stella Hurd, a professor from the Open University Languages Department. She has just retired from work this year and had devoted all her life to do research on CALL and Distance Language Learning.